A little more time

Irene and Robert Ortega met at a car sales lot in 1996. He was an outgoing car salesman with 20 years on the job who showed her around the lot. She was looking for a sports car; he sold her a minivan and asked her out.

They were both divorced and had three children each. She loved the way he cared for her and stood up for her. They married several months later.

Then five years ago, things weren’t right. His boss noticed he began to forget things. He would get lost, unsure where to go. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and it became her turn to stand up for him.

He began walking around the house at 2 a.m. He lost interest in reading and sports, the two things he loved. The man who said things that made her smile was overshadowed by someone who barely spoke.

At the Alamo Area Council of Governments she met Maria Wilson, who told her about the program at Grace Place, a center that cares for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients throughout the week.

As they toured the center, at 13420 Nacogdoches Rd., the staff played music from his younger days that made him smile. Recently, he danced with fellow group members as the Foundations sang “Build Me Up Buttercup,” and Patsy Cline crooned about “Walkin’ After Midnight.”

Irene drives him to the center, sponsored by Christian Senior Services, four days a week. On Fridays, her boss allows him to stay with her at her job.

These days, he’s more talkative and there are flashes of the man who wooed her and made her laugh. And there are times when she still struggles to grasp what the disease is all about.

But each day, she prays for a little more time to enjoy him, just as he is.